Take a Family Field Trip to Fair Oaks Farms (#INSavings)

Every weekday from May 9th through May 13th 2011, Visit Indianawill be releasing exclusive discounts as a part of the Indiana Summer of Savings. Each day, we’ll announce an exclusive quantity-limited offer through Facebook, Twitter and our Big Deal email list. Visit the Indiana Summer of Savings page for more information about the offers and how you can take advantage of them!

You’ve likely heard the suggestion before: With gas prices hovering above $4 per gallon, short-distance, in-state trips can be great alternatives to the traditional beach vacation this summer. Our family plan is to take several excursions to various locations around Indiana that can be reached in just a few hours. If that’s your plan too, you’ll want to add Fair Oaks Farms to your list of destinations.

Fair Oaks is a collaborative dairy farm, made of up 10 smaller farms. With more than 30,000 dairy cows, Fair Oaks turns out delicious varieties of ice cream, cheese, milk and butter that are sold throughout the Midwest and at the Cheese Factory/Gift Shop located on the grounds of the Visitors Center off I-65 near Winnimac, Indiana.

I took my family to Fair Oaks Farms last spring. The favorite parts of our visit included:

The Birthing Barn. Nearly 80 calves are born each day, several of them in view of visitors to this special bovine maternity theater.

The 4-D moo-vie that explains the dairy farming process

The milking carousel, where 500 cows per hour are milked

The ice cream

The cheese — Tastes are available, but beware: if you taste it, you will want to buy it.

The butter, which we saved for home and the thought of which still makes my mouth water

A return trip will definitely include Mooville, an outdoor play area that was not open for the season on our last visit, and Green Gate Garden, a new organic garden where you can select veggies straight from the field.

So what are you waiting for? Get moo-ving and head to Fair Oaks Farms.